About Zoe Jones

Zoe trained as a competitive gymnast for 11 years in France and California. After a training injury forced her to quit gymnastics, Zoe moved to London in 2005 where she rediscovered her love of being upside down!

In 2010, Zoe graduated with a BA in Circus Arts from the National Centre of Circus Arts in London where she specialised in handbalancing and acrobatics. She is also skilled in aerial hoop, silks, corde lisse, and static trapeze.

Since then, she has performed across the UK and internationally as a handbalancer, acrobat and aerialist for companies like the New London Consort, Crying Out Loud, The Exhibitionists, Dizzy O'Dare, and Acrojou. She has recently returned from a month run of the acclaimed cabaret show "Dixey" a the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Zoe is a regular teacher on the degree programme at the National Centre for Circus Arts and she recently worked as a consultant trainer and advisor for the BBC's Tumble.

My Story

At three years old I did my first back flip on my parents' bed (much to their dismay…). After that my love of being upside down, on my hands and flying through the air grew and I went on to become a competitive gymnast. When an injury forced me to retire at the age of 16, I mentally shelved away that part of myself and began to pursue an interest in art. I completed a degree in Studio Art and moved to London to try to break into the professional art scene, but I found myself stuck in a string of mind-numbingly boring temping jobs and was left questioning my chosen career path. A fortuitous stumble upon a website for a Sheffield circus school made me wonder if it were really possible to rediscover my passion for acrobatics. My family and friends pushed me and I packed up and moved to Sheffield for three months.

My experience in Sheffield turned out to be a total sea change. It awakened in me an interest in performing, not just for the judges' marks as in gymnastics, but for the unadulterated pleasure that it brought to me and the public. Since then I have gone on to complete a degree at The Circus Space in London where I specialised in handbalancing.